Mostly everybody on the planet has or will experience stress at some time in their life. Driving to the grocery store, going to work, or transitioning from high school to university, stress is now finding new ways to surprise people every day. With this mounting stress that comes with a fast, technologically-advanced society, skills are needed to mitigate these effects, restore balance, and minimize future encounters with it. Starting university, which is undeniably a potent source of stress, can be a daunting and frightful experience. Before school even begins, the expectations of becoming a professional student, thoughts of meeting new people, and the changes associated with the beginning of adulthood can be quite intimidating for some people – probably most. When school does start, it all can be overwhelming. The managing of five or six difficult classes, completing assignments on time, and learning of the more challenging university-level content can make starting university one of the most stressful times of a person’s life. The American College Health Association found in a 2018 study that 44.9% of students reported more than average stress, with 11.9% of students experiencing ‘tremendous stress’ (ACHA, 2018). Additionally, Turner, Leno and Keller (2013) found that one in every ten deaths of college and university students is caused by suicide. As we see in these extremes, it becomes imperative for students to understand the impacts of stress, identify stress factors, and learn how to manage stress effectively. Through a thorough understanding of stress and effective self-management techniques for reducing stress, it is possible for those beginning university to enjoy their experience, reach their full potential, and succeed.
Findings
First, it is important to understand the meaning of stress, and how it impacts the body. Selye (1974 p. 27) says: “Stress is a nonspecific response of the body to any demands made to it”. In other words, the body tries to maintain a sense of normalcy and balance by adjusting to situations and events that try to change this balance. When a person becomes cold, their bodies start shivering to generate heat (Tortora & Derrickson, 2017, p. 10). In this context, stress is considered to be the cold environment the person finds them self in. It is also important to remember that not all stress is bad though. For instance, when you are running from a bear, you need to be able to adapt quickly to the life-threatening situation, and reroute all energy in the body to organs that will help you survive. In this example, a person’s parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system will activate, which will deliver huge amounts of glucose and oxygen to the brain, skeletal muscles, and heart. At the same time, non-useful organ functions associated with the urinary, digestive, and reproductive systems are inhibited (Tortora & Derrickson, 2017, p. 656). On the contrary, chronic stress serves no purpose, is detrimental to health, and can lead to a variety of complications such as changes in brain structure, weakened immune system, decreased cardiovascular health, and decreased mental health (Mariotti, 2015). In this study, the severity of stress and its effects are clearly expressed which underline the concern that almost half of students are experiencing higher than average stress as previously mentioned in the study done by ACHA (2018).
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Understanding what causes stress (stressor) is also very crucial so that we are able to focus on specific coping skills for a specific stressor, reduce our encounters with them, or even eliminate the stressor all together. Canadian adults report that families, relationships, work, and major life changes mark the biggest sources of stress (CMHA, 2014), but stress experienced by post-secondary students highlights other areas of one’s life. Stressors experienced by post-secondary students can be related to stage of life, personal factors, or academics (Versavel, 2014). Adapting to independent living, transitioning into adulthood, building new social support networks, changing relationships with parents, and obtaining personal security are all stresses related to stage of life (Al-qaisy, 2010). Financial concerns, school/personal life balance, and lack of free time are all commonly identified personal sources of stress for post-secondary students (Chernomas & Shapiro, 2013). Additionally, working part-time can make everything else seem even harder. If a student has poor time management skills and is working through a heavy course load, this will further exacerbate stress. With this in mind, the primary source of stress amongst college and university students relates to academics. Worrying about exams, workload, and marks in general have been cited as top sources of stress for some students (Altiok & Ustun, 2013).
As students are not always able to eliminate the source of their stress, they can still find ways of managing it. There are many different resources that a student can use, but these resources are not fully realized by the students themselves. Also, pressures of school life seem to compound on each other like cars entering a traffic jam on a freeway. Not before long, it seems impossible to get out of the mess students often find themselves in, and they may bouts of depression, anxiety, or even break-downs. Students may then turn to alcohol and drugs to relieve the stress that they are experiencing, which normally make the situation even worse (Lanier, Nicholson, Duncan, 2001). Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) is becoming an increasingly popular and effective stress management technique that scientists are now studying now more than ever. Mindfulness-based therapy is a way of training an individual’s brain to quiet itself so that the individual is less likely to become distracted, overwhelmed by worry and rumination, and ultimately towards acceptance of oneself (Abott, Whear, Rodgers, et al., 2014). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has also been found to reduce stress in University Students. CBT helps individuals focus on the here and now, with skills and strategies to examine how to make sense of what is happening, and how these perceptions affect the way they feel (Huisman & Kangas, 2018). Yoga is also a very effective intervention to stress as studied by Milligan (2006). Some universities even offer yoga programs to their students, which is becoming increasingly popular among students. Diet also plays another important role in the mental health of students. As all of our body’s need energy to perform, it is crucial that students eat well so that their body systems are able to support the student’s needs. This is especially the case when it comes to the nervous system, which is your brain. The brain is constantly receiving, interpreting, and sending out data. When you don’t fuel your brain with anything other than quality nutrients, it can become slow, fatigued, and damaged (Selhub, 2018). Paying attention to what you put into your body can make a huge impact on the way your brain performs, ultimately reducing stress levels.
Conclusion
With the information presented above addressing what stress is, how it can physiologically affect the body, some sources of stress (stressors), and effective techniques for reducing stress, it becomes important that this information makes its way to the minds of students. All of the literature on stress does no good if it doesn’t get shared with importance to university students. This may an area of focus for future studies; how can professionals, faculty of universities, and anyone teaching about stress, to effectively share this information with practical solutions for students. It’s one thing to see posters in the hallways of schools about stress and its effects, but it’s another thing to fully understand on a deeper level that humans are not designed to be stressed all of the time, and what we can do about it. This sharing and understanding may prove of even greater difficulty as half of students are already stressed (ACHA, 2018). With half of the student population already stressed, students may prioritize completing their fast-approaching deadlines, studying for tests, and anything academic related, instead of learning effective ways of coping outside of just being a stressed student. There may already be a misguided belief among some university students which is that chronic stress is just an integral part of university. This is just inherently wrong, and should be understood by all students. There are countless students that have learned how to prioritize their health, take care of themselves, and manage their stress. With the use of MBT, CBT, yoga, diet, and many other health promotion strategies, students can begin taking back their lives and have a fulfilling university experience. Maybe it’s from all of the distraction of technology that we have forgotten how it feels to feel balanced and healthy. We all seem so caught up in the stories we read, videos we watch, and posts we share, that we really have lost touch with an innate part of ourselves, which may be contributing to a declining health of society. Whatever the case may be, if we don’t fix our society’s stress epidemic, we are in for trouble.
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